


Room Hopping

by Duelist925



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Sexual Content, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-03 04:42:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6597169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duelist925/pseuds/Duelist925
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an...incident at her apartment, Judy finds herself living with her friend and partner, Nick. From there arises a series of events that tests their friendship in strange ways while a dangerous mystery unfolds amidst the flood of new Nighthowler based drugs entering the city.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hop

“Pangolin Arms, where all the naive country bumpkin charm comes to die.” Nick said dryly as they came up to the shabby apartment complex. He’d walked her home after the Gazelle concert—nothing planned, they’d just gotten to talking as they left and he’d wound up tagging along even after they’d fallen into a comfortable silence. 

Judy rolled her eyes and punched her partner’s shoulder. “Quiet you. It’s good enough for me, and lets me save up some cash.” She paused in front of the door leading into the complex itself, smiling up at Nick. “Thanks for walking me. Noble fox.” Her smile turned into a grin at the way his eyes rolled. 

“Pff. Who else is gonna make sure some devious trickster doesn’t gobble you up?” He smirked at her before shaking his head. “Ahh, tasty bunny.” He wiggled the fingers of one paw at her as he turned away. “See you at the station Monday, Carrots.” 

“Bye Nick!” She waved, watching him head off for a minute or two. She didn’t quite notice the way her smile shrank into something smaller, gentler, as she did. Shaking her own head, she stepped inside and started the long climb to her apartment. Six flights of stairs wasn’t necessarily fun, but it was good cardio and she always viewed the elevator with a suspicious eye. After hearing the noises it had made during her first, and thus far only trip in it, she was loathe to trust the rusted thing. 

The smell of charred wood greeted her nose when she opened the door to her floor. She rolled her eyes, making her way along to her apartment. Another failed cooking experiment, probably. Weird smells were a curious and sometimes disturbing reality of her living quarters, much like the shouting and argument from next door—such as right now. She fumbled with her keys for a moment, the smell curiously stronger. Still, ninety nine times out of a hundred, it was nothing to worry about. 

The lock clicked open, and the scent went from “strong” to “assaulting her nostrils”. At the same time, a distinct undercurrent of burned fur joined the party. She stepped into her apartment—or, rather, what had once been her apartment—and her jaw fell open. 

Normally, it was a tiny, cramped little space with a bed on one side, a desk on the other, and roughly enough room between to wiggle to the window. Now? The left wall had a hole in it Nick could’ve walked through without any issues, her bed was on its side and faintly smoldering, her microwave was in pieces covering the place, and the uniform that she’d draped over the back of her desk chair had been charred in a half dozen places. 

“…Oh, cheese and crackers.”

-|-

     Nick was just a few blocks away when his phone rang. The former con-mammal glanced at the screen, eyebrow quirking up as he saw who was on the other end. “Whats the little fuzz butt need so soon?” He muttered before thumbing the “Answer” button.

“ ‘Sup, cottontail. Miss me already?” He said with a chuckle. He was a bit taken aback by her response—or, rather, the quiet tone. 

“Hey, Nick. Uh…you know any good hotels nearby?” She sounded somewhere between annoyed and almost frustrated, and he could hear yelling in the background. 

“Huh? Uh. Yeah, I know a couple. Why, whats up?” He slowed to a stop as he spoke, glancing back the way he’d come. 

“…My apartment…kind of blew up. “  
He…had not been expecting that. He turned and started walking back, which quickly turned to jogging. “What?! Are you ok? What in the nine hells happened?” Blew up?! 

“I’m fine, it looks like it happened while we were at the concert. Don’t know exactly what happened, other than both my and my neighbors microwave exploding. That’s all I can get out of them right now. “ Her voice definitely edged towards annoyance near the end there. “They’re waiting on the paramedics right now. I called them first, since,” and her he could tell she was yelling at someone else, “Neither of my neighbors was smart enough to call when it first happened!” 

Her breathing returned to normal a moment later, just as her building came back into view. He slowed in front of it, panting slightly—he’d been running faster than he thought. “That…uh. Wow, that sucks, Flopsy.” He paused at the front door, the mind of this self admittedly wildly intelligent, gorgeously handsome, sly and cunning fox working at a mile a minute for a second or two. “But…yeah, I know a place you can lay your head for a few nights. “ He stepped inside and paused again. “Though if you want help with your luggage, you’ll have to tell me what floor you live on.”

-|-

     “You didn’t have to help! It’s just a pair of suitcases!” Judy protested weakly. He promptly ignored her, as he had the five previous times, and continued carrying her suitcases in one shoulder.

“Nick!” He leaned over as she hopped up again (third time), and tried to snatch one of the suitcases from him. “Oh, prickleberry! You dumb fox!” She tried to kick him in the shin, and he casually swung that leg out so she missed, overbalanced, and fell on her cute tush. She glared up at his innocent grin. “You’re just doing this to guilt me out of donut money.” She grumbled. 

“You know it, cottontail.” He said easily, continuing down the sidewalk. 

She scrambled to her feet and races after him, hopping around to walk backwards in front of the fox. “Where are you taking me anyway?” 

He glanced up past her. “Hmm? Too late for a cab, so we’re hitting the subway. “ 

She blinked at him. “Subway? Why?” She asked, a touch incredulous. “You don’t know any hotels closer?”

He smirked. “What, you think I’m gonna have you sleeping in some flea-bitten excuse for a B&B? Nah, I know a good place, real cheap.” 

She rolled her eyes, but nodded. “Fine, I bow to your superior judgement.

-|-

     A quick trip on the subway and another twenty minutes of walking had her doubting that judgement. They were approaching the bridge she’d found him and apologized to him at—trying not to think about bursting into tears—and she was growing increasingly confused.

“…Nick, what are you doing? Do you seriously expect me to sleep under a bridge?” She finally asked, perhaps a bit louder than she intended.

He grinned that smug little grin at her again as they neared the stone structure. “Why not? I do!” 

She stopped in shock, a whirlwind of emotions tearing through her at that revelation—before he produced a key and unlocked a door in the side of the bridge, stepping in. Somewhat numb, she followed, and found further shock. 

A seemingly short stairway down, a bit of a hall—and then a simply massive living room greeted her eyes. It was easily bigger than ever the one from back home, and that had to contain a boat-load of kits! 

“Nick…!” She breathed, looking around. Nice looking furniture, if some a bit beat up, a flatscreen tv on the wall, and at least two other hallways leading out to further unexplored areas. 

“What? Didn’t you know foxes made their dens underground?” he said cheekily, finally setting her luggage down next to an obscenely comfortable looking couch. 

She looked around again and stared at him, mouth open for a moment as she waved her paws. She even managed a sentence! “How?!” Well, a short sentence. 

He rolled his eyes, propping his footpads up on a coffee table. “What, you thought I spent all my hard conned money on popsicle sticks?” He snickered. “I picked this place up for a song and a dance a couple of years back. Some crazy rich badger built a park, and wanted to live under it. At least until he got bored and built another park. Sold it to me as is, furniture and all, long as I promised never to sell the land to real-estate agents.” 

Judy looked around, mouth wide open, before returning her gaze to him. “…You own a public park?!”

“Technically it’s private property. I just don’t prosecute most trespassers.” He grinned at her. 

Abruptly, Judy’s mouth snapped shut with a click that likely echoed the one in her brain. “Wait, I thought you were taking me somewhere I could—Nick, are you inviting me to move in with you?” 

This seemed to turn the sly fox a touch bashful for some reason. He chuckled nervously and shrugged. “Well, I have plenty of room, and it’d save you a bundle on hotel fees.” He shook his head, raising a hand to forestall her objections. “Before you start: Not taking advantage, I’m offering this of my own free will to my friend, no you won’t be paying rent, yes you’ll help with utilities, you can stay until your apartment is fixed and then head back to it if you want, you kill the spiders and take the trash out.” He paused, twitching his fingers as he counted off all of the things he thought Judy would bring up. “Oh! And we’d have to share bathrooms until I can turn the water back on in one of the others.” 

He looked her over as her mouth worked, the bunny trying to come up with a reason why this was a bad idea. “Face it Carrots, this is your best option.” He said with a chuckle. 

After a moment more furious though, Judy’s ears relaxed and she sighed before climbing up onto the couch beside him. “…You’re so just doing this for the free donuts.” She groused. 

He couldn’t help it—he snickered and nudged her shoulder with his fist. “Grumpy bunny. “ 

She looked at him for a moment before breaking into a fond smile. “Dumb fox…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite the ears, Finnick didn’t count.

Nick was not unused to waking up on his couch instead of his bed. He had the occasional bad habit of falling asleep on it while binge-watching crap on Netflix into the night. He was less used to waking up on his couch cuddled up with someone warm, fuzzy, and friendly, but it wasn’t unknown to have happened, if a fair bit rarer than he might have liked. 

He was decidedly not used to waking up with a bunny in his lap. As far as he could remember, that had never happened. Despite the ears, Finnick didn’t count. He blinked groggily down at the mass of white fur cuddled up under one arm, burrowing against his chest. It took him a few long moments of warmth to remember just why Cottontail was in his home. 

He carefully slid to the side, letting her slump onto the couch itself instead of him. He had to grin at her little mewl of complaint, shaking his head as he stood up to stretch. He bit back a groan as several of his joints decided to pop, crack, and snap at him in annoyance for the non-optimal sleeping arrangements. He told them to shut up in his head as he made his way to the kitchen.  
He surveyed the rather meager offerings of his pantry before shrugging and grabbing his keys. Might as well welcome his guest in with a decent breakfast.

-|-

Judy rarely remembered her dreams, but a faint part of her hoped this one would linger. She sighed, cuddling against one of her siblings. She’d missed this—the warmth and comfort of snuggling against one or more members of the family, their little motions and breathing as soothing as any bit of white noise. It was something she found sorely lacking in her tiny apartment.

The rabbit rolled over, eyes fluttering open. The fire had died down, and most of the kits that had come were in their various tents—but she always liked sleeping under the sky when she could. She loved the burrows, sure, but there was something so…beautiful about the vast expanse of jewel dotted blackness. 

Some motion to her right—she glanced over and smiled. “Hey Nick. Can’t sleep?” She mumbled. It didn’t seem strange that he was there, at her family campout. He yawned, teeth clacking together in that particular way of his before he answered with a tired chuckle. 

“mm. Not used to this many stars. Little overwhelmin’, Carrots.” He went back to staring up, his hands behind his head. He had thrown his sleeping bag open, revealing his bare chest. She remained on her side, content with the view. 

“Yeah.” She said eloquently. “Not a lot in a city, mm?” 

He turned his head, one arm sliding out free. His paw fell to the top of her head, and she sighed as he started to scritch through her fur, right between her ears. “Eh…don’t need’em.” He smirked at her, lips drawing back. She stared at his teeth, taking a breath—

She thumped against the ground, woken by the combination of the abrupt stop and the sound of Nick laughing. She stumbled to her feet, sleep and confusion teaming up to leave her rather befuddled looking. 

“Cripes, Carrots. I just said “wake up”, you didn’t have to hop out of bed like that.” He snickered, trying—and failing—to stifle further laughter. He nudged past her, carrying a pair of plates and a sack with two Styrofoam containers. “Wanted to let you know the food was here. “ He sat and popped one of the containers open, laying out a pretty sizable breakfast on his plate—Waffle, hash browns, eggs, and something resembling bacon and sausages. He pushed the other towards her—she snorted when she saw the pen strokes outlining a crude drawing of rabbit ears on it.

Nick noticed her rubbing at one of her eyes and decided to take a bit of pity, shoving a little cardboard carrier. She was cute as hell when she was sleep-addled though.  
She stared at the drink carrier and snatched up the steaming cup of her salvation, taking a long, mouth scalding drought. 

“Better.” She mumbled, hopping up onto the couch and opening her own container. It looked much the same as Nicks, though her meat-products were the tofu imitations rather than the insectile ones. “mm. Thanks. Where’d you get it?” She asked, squirting ketchup over her hash browns. It wasn’t until three bites in that the caffeine kicked in. 

“Little diner outside of the park.” Nick answered a bit absently, considering how focused he was on his bacon. Hopps looked around the room, arms up as she stretched, and felt a curious warmth that had little to do with the hot coffee settle into her stomach. 

She glanced over, a small smile gracing her lips. “Hey, Nick?” 

He glanced back, mouth currently occupied, eyebrow raised. “Hhmm?” 

“Thanks.” 

“Mmm. “

“For everything. Breakfast, and letting me stay here, and…you’re a sweetheart.”

“Mmhmm. Mm.” 

“Really. I owe you big time, Wilde.” 

“Mm.” 

“Sly fox…” 

“Mm. Hmm mm.” 

Judy rolled her eyes. “Would you swallow already?”

-|-

Nick smirked down at his lapine comrade, currently walking beside him with a rather annoyed expression on her face.

“Seriously has to carry it everywhere.” She grumbled, for what had to have been the nine thousandth time. 

“Hey, my house, my rules, my guest.” He said with a chuckle. They’d been walking for a few minutes as he gave her the short tour. They’d already touched on the living room, kitchen (Which, astonishingly enough, had windows), the one bathroom currently available, and now they were on their way to her room. He paused at a door, and grinned. “Place might be a bit dusty. I don’t have guests very often, and Finn prefers one of those ugly chairs for some reason.”

He threw the door open, and gave a graceless bow, gesturing for her to enter. “If Madame would survey her new lodgings?” He said with a cheesy accent. Ordinarily, she would have punched him in the arm for that, or snarked back, but it seems she was a bit preoccupied. 

She walked into the room, eyes wide. It outclassed her old place by leagues, easily ten times the size of that hovel. The walls were stained wood, and her feet sank into the thick shag of the rug. Judging by the shapes under the sheets, there was a rather beautifully large bed to one side, with a chest of drawers to the other. Three doors led off to either side, two in one wall, a third in the opposite. But, what had her attention the most, was the view. There was a massive set of windows that looked out over the park and the city beyond, in a breathtakingly beautiful view. 

Judy looked around, overwhelmed for a few long moments, until Nick piped up. 

“…You know what, you can have the closet next door. I think I’ll move in here.” 

She spun and punched him in the arm. “Nick! I! This place! It’s a palace, I can’t, I, how-“ She realized to her horror that she was starting to tear up. It was confirmed when Nick chuckled and pulled her into his arms. 

“Dumb bunny. So emotional.” He flicked one of her ear tips, pulling a feeble squeak from the rabbit. “Already told you. This place has more than enough space, and all you’re gonna be costing me is an extra few bucks in water and power. Big whoop.” 

She sniffled, hugging him tight. “You’re my best friend, and I kind of want to kick you in the shin for being so nice.” She mumbled, before hiccupping. He pulled away and she wiped her eyes, shaking her head a bit, before stepping up to one of the sheet covered bits of furniture. “Mm. might as well see what I’m getting all worked up about.” She said with a sigh, grabbing the sheet. 

Nick turned, eyes going wide. “Wait, Carrots, no! Don’t—“ 

Ah, but it was too late—she yanked on the off-white sheet, pulling it free and revealing a vanity table with a mirror. 

And releasing a mushroom cloud of dust that filled the air like volcanic ash, sending both the animals into fits of sneezing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the Kudos and reviews! ^_^ hope you enjoy this as much as chapter 1!

**Author's Note:**

> My first post here! I'll be reposting some of my other works from other sites as well, but until then, enjoy. ^_^


End file.
